The Thing Producer Explains The Reason For The Release Date Change

Two days ago horror fans were kicked in the gut by news that instead of getting a prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing in April, they’re going to get a Fast and the Furious sequel instead. As if that weren’t bummer enough, Universal didn’t bother announcing a new release date for Matthijs van Heijningen Jr’s take on the horror staple, causing much speculation about just what the hell is going on over there.

Well fret not, dear reader, as ever vigilant Drew McWeeny over at HitFix has spoken with the film’s producer Marc Abraham and all is well on the Thing homefront. They’ve merely pushed the release back so they have ample time for reshoots, pick up shots, and the immense amount of post-production effects work that goes into monster movies of this magnitude. For the 1982 original, it took over a year of post-production to make the monster sequences work and to develop the tech needed to make it work right. And as anyone who has seen that film knows, it was worth it.

So the date wasn’t moved because they ran in to some legal mumbo jumbo or actor issues or anything bad. Fast Five is finished, and The Thing simply just needs the extra time for polish that this horror hound is more than happy to allow.

Stick around for more news on the matter as I’m sure it won’t be long before Universal gets their ducks in a row and announce a new release date. Learn more about The Thing-- including our visit to the film's Toronto set-- over at our Blend Movie Database.